When I was in Haiti, I was exposed to so many different things that made me think about how I live my life. And it is always easy to realize that you need to change something, live a better, healthier, more cautious life. I wonder why it is so hard for us to try and be better. From the bottom of my heart, I believe that every person in this universe can do better than they strive to be. But people complain, complain about their lives and how much they suck. People blame others for their losses because it is easier than looking in the mirror and asking yourself: “What can I do to makes things better?” We are all guilty of it. Why? I believe that all humans are selfish by nature and don’t understand that by doing things for other people they can benefit themselves as well. One of my professors at Keller taught us about Systems Thinking. This theory implies that every person in our universe is somehow connected by the things that they do. Every move that you make eventually helps out another person, whether you realize it or not. By purposefully helping other people, you speed up the process. Once you do something for another person, something good will be done to you.
C.S. Lewis wrote that “Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” While I do believe that affection is certainly a very important piece of love in another person, it is true that we need to wish for the ultimate good for others.
One question I asked myself over and over again while I was spending time with orphanages in Les Cayes was why there isn’t more people aware of the poor conditions that billions of people in the world live in. The book “The Bottom Billion” by Paul Collier gives a nice break down of what can be done to help the poor in this world. You don’t have to give money if you don’t have it. Give time. Give effort. Give your skills! We all have something we can contribute. Ultimately, it will come back to us and reward us.
We can all do better. Instead of watching TV, we can go out and help pack food to be shipped to starving people world wide. Instead of wasting time on facebook, let’s do research on the internet on how we can help. For example, Kiva.com offers a wonderful way to lend $25 or more as a way of micro financing entrepreneurs in developing countries. I know it’s hard to focus on doing “good” things all the time, but I believe that if we do these things together, we have much greater strength to accomplish something. I surely am no saint that does exactly all these things. But I strive to be better, to help, to make a difference…